Towing arrangement for water sking and the like



June 13, 1967 c. G. DUNLAP 3,324,813

TOWING ARRANGEMENT FOR WATER SKIING AND THE LIKE Filed March 18, 1966 INVENTOR CARROLL e. DUNLAP United States Patent 3,324,818 TOWING ARRANGEMENT FOR WATER SKIING AND THE LIKE Carroll Gene Dunlap, Novato, Calif. (PD. Box 6374, Santa Rosa, Calif. 95406) Filed Mar. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 535,559 7 Claims. (Cl. 115-61) The present invention relates to sports wherein a person allows himself to be towed by an automotive vehicle, such as a car or a motor boat, or by a horse, and for this purpose holds on to the reins of a horse or a handle on a line connected to the vehicle, such as is the case in the sports of skijoring or water skiing. Sports of this type require considerable force exerted by the skiers fingers to hold on to the handle or rein; and they place great and often painful strains upon the skiers fingers and the delicate bone structure in the mid-portion of his hands when the vehicle increases its speed or changes its course suddenly, or the skier encounters increased resistance, such as may be caused by unevenness in the condition of the ground or cross currents in the water. While the strain on the skiers hands may be relieved by attaching the towing line or the reins to parts of the skiers body, this presents a grave danger because if the skier loses his balance and comes to a fall, he may be dragged over the ground or pulled through the water and may be seriously mauled or even drowned.

It is an object of my invention to provide a towing arrangement for sports of the type referred to, which eases the strain on the skiers hands.

Another object of the invention is to furnish a towing arrangement for sports, of the type referred to, which provides a positive connection between the towing line and a part of the skiers body other than his fingers, and which will yet relinquish the skier automatically and instantaneously when an emergency arises.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a towing arrangement, of the type referred to, whose manipulation requires a minimum effort on the skiers part.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings which illustrate certain preferred embodiments thereof and wherein FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the towing arrangement of the invention as applied to a skiers wrist;

FIGURES 2 and 3 are perspectives of the two basic components of the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective of a modified embodiment of the component shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective of yet another modified embodiment of the component shown in FIGURE 3.

In accordance with the invention I interpose between the towing line or rein and a part of the skiers body other than his fingers, a releasable clutch comprising interengaged male and female coupling members which may readily be held in engaged skier-towing position by the skiers fingers without placing a pulling strain on the fingers, and which disengage instantaneously and smoothly and thus release the skier whenever his hand releases them, as it will instinctively in cases of emergency when the towing speed is too great, uneven and unfavorable ground or water conditions are encountered and/or the skier loses his balance.

Having first reference to FIGURES l and 3, the arrangement of the invention comprises a partial glove or gauntlet which may be wrapped around and secured to the wrist of the skier in any suitable manner, such as by buckles or by press buttons, the latter being shown at 12 in FIGURES 1 and 3. Projecting forwardly from the front edge 14 of the gauntlet is a male coupling member 16 which comprises a short stem or shank 18 pro- "ice vided with an acorn-shaped head 20 that has a radially expanded, rounded case 22 and a free pointed end 23. Secured to the tow line 24 is a multi-partite female coupling member 25 which is preferably made of a resiliently yieldable material, such as a tough plastic material, and which may have the conformation of a partially split pear. The tow line is suitably connected to the pointed end 26 of the pear, such as for instance, by being threaded through and tied around an eyelet 28. The pear 25 is split from its blunt end along a plane containing its main axis, with only its pointed end 26 left intact. This end 26 forms a hinge connection for the resultant halves 25a and 25b of the pear, permitting them to spread sufi'iciently apart to admit readily the head of the male coupling member on gauntlet 10. I prefer to construct the female coupling member in such a manner that it is open in its normal relaxed position so that the male member may readily be inserted by the skier and may readily disengage itself when the skiers hand releases the female member. This can be achieved in the moulding of the female member. Alternatively, a biassing spring may be provided between the inner surfaces of the two halves in the region near the pointed end 26 of the pear. Provided in the flat inner surfaces of the halves 25a and 25b of the pear are concavities 30 and 32 of a shape and depth conforming to the head and the stem of the male coupling member (FIGURE 2) so that upon insertion of the male member into the partially opened halves of the female member, said halves may be fully closed over and engaged behind the head of the male member, and may be held in closed position by pressure exerted by the fingers and the thumb of the hand that is encircled by the gauntlet 10, as shown in FIGURE 1. In this position of the female coupling members 25a and 25b any pull exerted upon the towing line 24 is effectively transmitted against the base 22 of the head 29 of the male coupling member and from there through the gauntlet 10 to the skiers wrist and lower fore arm; and it requires very little effort on the part of the skiers thumb and fingers to maintain the female coupling member in engaged condition because the pressure required to hold them in engaged position is exerted in a direction radially of, or at right angles to, the towing pull. Thus, the skier may allow himself to be towed with very little holding effort on his part. In an emergency however, when the going becomes too rough and/ or when he loses his balance and falls, he will instinctively open his hand causing the female coupling members to spread apart under the resiliency of the elastic connection established by the tip 26 of the pear. In addition, the rounded base of the head 20 of the male coupling member is effective to cam the female coupling components apart. Thus, the male coupling member disengages itself smoothly from the female coupling components without any possibility of entanglement. The skier is therefore instantaneously released from the towing line and will not be dragged over the ground or through the water.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a modified embodiment of the invention in which the male coupling member 16 is secured to a body belt 34 which may be provided with a floater 36 to impart buoyancy to a water skier in the case of an emergency. In use, the male coupling member of the belt is inserted into a multi-partite female coupling member of the same construction as illustrated in FIG- URE 2, and said female coupling member is engaged over the male member and held in engaged position by the skiers hand in the same manner as described hereinbefore in connection with the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 3.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG- URE 5 is similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG- URE 4. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURE 5 the skiers belt 38 is provided with a shoulder harness 40, and the male coupling member 16 is secured to the belt in the area where the straps of the shoulder harness are joined to the belt. In this manner the pull exerted upon the body of the skier through the intercngaged coupling members 16 and 25 is more evenly distributed over the skiers body. In the embodiment of that illustrated in FIGURE 5, the belt 38 and both the harness straps 40 may be provided with floaters, as indicated at 42 and 44.

While I have explained my invention with the aid of certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific constructional details shown and described by way of example which may be departed from without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Thus, the location of the coupling members is interchangeable, i,e. the male coupling members may be attached to the towing line instead of a part of the skiers body, and the female coupling member may be attached to the skiers body, and may in use be held engaged over the male member by the skiers hand with the same case and the same effect as in the exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I claim:

1. A towing arrangement for Water skiing and like sports comprising a male coupling member, a multipartite female coupling member arranged for engagement over said male COupling member and adapted to be held in engaged position over said male coupling member by the skiers hand, means for connecting one of said members to the tow line and means for connecting the other one of said members to a part of the skiers body.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1 including means for attaching said male coupling member to a part of the human body and wherein said female coupling member is attached to the towing line.

3. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said means for attaching one of said complete members to a part of the human body is a gauntlet.

4. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said means for attaching one of said coupling members to a part of the human body is a body belt.

5. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said male coupling member comprises a shank and a head at the free end of said shank, and said female clutch member is a body of a resiliently yieldable material having a split end, the inner surfaces of the resultant parts thereof having concavities of a shape and size enabling said parts to be closed over the head of said male coupling member.

6. Arrangement according to claim 1 wherein said male coupling member comprises a shank and a head at the free end of said shank having a radially expanded base portion of rounded conformation, and said female coupling member is a body of pear-shaped conformation having its blunt end split, the inner surfaces of the resultant parts thereof having concavities of a shape and size enabling said parts to be closed over, and engaged behind the base of the head of said male couplin member.

7. Arrangement according to claim 1 including a gauntlet for attaching said male coupling member to the skiers wrist, and wherein said male coupling member comprises a shank and a head of rounded conformation at the free end of said shank, and said female coupling member is a body of a resiliently yieldable material and pear shaped conformation having its pointed end attached to the towing line and its blunt end split along a plane containing its major axis, the inner surfaces of the resultant parts thereof having concavities of a shape and size enabling said parts to be closed over the head of said male coupling member and be held in closed position over said head by the hand whose Wrist is held in said gauntlet.

No references cited.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

T. M. BLIX, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TOWING ARRANGEMENT FOR WATER SKIING AND LIKE SPORTS COMPRISING A MALE COUPLING MEMBER, A MULTIPARTITE FEMALE COUPLING MEMBER ARRANGE FOR ENGAGEMENT OVER SAID MALE COUPLING MEMBER AND ADAPTED TO BE HELD IN ENGAGED POSITION OVER SAID MALE COUPLING MEMBER BY THE SKIER''S HAND, MEANS FOR CONNECTING ONE OF SAID MEMBERS TO THE TOW LINE AND MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE OTHER ONE OF SAID MEMBERS TO A PART OF THE SKIER''S BODY. 